Automatic assembling method and apparatus for assembling photographic film cassette

Abstract: Automatic assembling method and apparatus using a pluraity of pallets (30) on a conveyer belt (40) for assembling photographic film cassettes are disclosed. Each pallet has a secondary work holder (32) besides a primary work holder (31) which are arranged in the same positions in every pallet (30). Parts of a secondary assembly are sequentially fed to the secondary work holder and are assembled into the secondary assembly in the secondary work holder. The secondary assembly and other parts of a primary assembly are sequentially fed to the primary work holder and are assembled into the primary assembly in the primary work holder.

Description: The present invention relates to an automatic assembling method for assembling a photographic film cassette according to the preamble of claim 1, and to an automatic assembling apparatus for assembling a photographic film cassette, according to the preamble of claim 4. Photographic film of the 135 type, contained in a cassette, is among the most popular formats of photographic film. A known 135 photographic film cassette has a cassette shell constituted of a cylindrical body and formed in a thin metal sheet and two caps fitted thereon. The cassette has a spool contained in the cassette shell on which photographic film is wound in a form of a roll. To assemble this photographic film cassette, several methods are known. From prior art document US 4614019A a method and apparatus for assembling a film cassette along an assembling line is known. Said apparatus comprises a conveying means having a plurality of pallets which are intermittently conveyed along said assembly line. Shell plate chucks are mounted on the pallets and are opened and closed as the pallets move. Said chucks are provided to receive the shell plates of the film cassette, wherein said shell plates have been temporarily formed within a shell plate temporary forming station and thereafter said formed shell plates are supplied to the assembling line. The respective shell plates held by said chucks are receiving spools with film being wound thereon, respectively. Said spool and film have been preassembled within a winding station and have been supplied to the assembling line. Thereafter caps are supplied to said assembling line for closing the open ends of the shell plates accommodating the spool and the film. US 4 080 711 A discloses a process of bringing an assembled cassette shell into a darkroom, disassembling the cassette shell for insertion of the photographic film, inserting the photographic film wound on the spool, and then assembling the cassette shell. U.S.P. 4,834,306, U.S.P. 4,846,418 and European Publication EP-A2 0 406 815 (corresponding to Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 3-37645), each disclose a photographic film cassette in which a cassette shell is constituted of parts formed from resin, and rotation of a spool causes a leader of the photographic film to exit to the outside of the cassette. Such a leader-advancing cassette is different from photographic film cassette conventionally in use because the leader of the photographic film is fully contained within the cassette both before exposure and after exposure. Such a cassette is advantageous in that the photographic film is reliably protected from accidental exposure to ambient light, and in that the cassette is easily handled. Such a leader-advancing cassette includes elements not utilized in conventional cassettes. As disclosed, for example, in U.S.P. No. 4,834,306 (corresponding to Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 1-306845) and U.S.P. No. 5,049,912, a light-shielding shutter member may be mounted openably in a photographic film passage port of this type of film cassette for protecting the inside from ambient light. Or a visual indicator member may be incorporated in such a cassette, to appear externally for indicating the exposed condition of the photographic film. However, production of such a leader-advancing cassette has many inherent problems due to the increase in the number of the parts. Particularly when the cassette shells must be assembled or disassembled in a dark room, the assembling operation is so complicated that efficiency of production is difficult to increase. In such a case, even an automated assembling machine would have difficulties in inspection and repair. The problems are more complicated in a case of a photographic film cassette wherein a spool is an assembly constituted of a pair of flanges force-fitted on the spool core, and the spool assembly is mounted in one shell half before the other shell half is joined to the counterpart. This is because an independent assembling process for assembling the spool assembly is necessary before a primary assembling process of the film cassette, wherein the spool assembly, the shutter plate and other parts are mounted into the cassette shell. In conventional assembling system for such a film cassette, there have been provided at least two assembling lines and at least a transfer conveyor for connecting the two lines. Therefore, the mechanism of the conventional system are complicated. The need for transferring works between the lines increases the occurrence of troubles. The same problem as described above could generally arise in other automatic assembling system, where a secondary assembly should be incorporated into a primary assembly. On the other hand, a constant tact intermittent transport linear base machine for moving an endless conveyer member such as a belt or a chain periodically by a constant amount each, has been known, for example, from Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication 4-209121, wherein pallets are secured to the endless conveyer member. When assembling works by using such a constant tact intermittent transport linear base machine, if positions of the pallets get out of order because of jamming of the works, stop positions of the pallets must be readjusted to restore the accuracy of assemblage. Readjustment requires much time so that efficiency of the assemblage decreases. Conventional constant tact intermittent linear base machines further have a problem in that the pallet must be decoupled from and coupled to the conveyer so as to fed back to the assembling line through a feed back line, after the completion of assemblage on that pallet. The decoupling-coupling operations often cause trouble especially in a high speed tact system. Prior art document US 481519A is directed to a method and a system for automatic assembling of power train components along a plurality of interconnected closed loops within cells of the system, wherein parts and/or subassemblies of the components are assembled on the same assembling pallet on which they were robotically kitted. Said assembly is carried out within several assembling cells which are connected by a conveying system. As can be taken from said prior art document, the subassembly parts are kitted directly to the respective pallets at a kitting station. Thereafter, said pallets provided with said parts are moved along the assembling line to the respective assembling stations. Said subassembly parts are subassembled at said assembling stations prior to installing them to the primary assembly. Within one assembling station, a related robot grips the pre-kitted part to assemble the same to the related subassembly and further grips said subassembly to move the same to the primary assembly. It is an objective of the present invention to provide an automatic assembling method for assembling a photographic film cassette and an automatic assembling apparatus for assembling a photographic film cassette as mentioned-above which allow high efficiency of assembling a photo film cassette. According to the method aspect of the present invention, said objective is solved by an automatic assembling method for assembling a photographic film cassette according to claim 1. According to the apparatus aspect of the present invention, said objective is also solved by an automatic assembling apparatus for assembling a photographic film cassette according claim 4. Preferred embodiments of the present invention are laid down in the respective dependent claims. An advantage of the invention is that it is unnecessary to provide a secondary assembling line for assembling the secondary assembly separately from a primary assembling line for the primary assembly. Because of the single assembling line, it is unnecessary to provide interconnecting devices such as a synchronizing device and a buffer conveyer, which would otherwise be necessary for connecting the primary and secondary assembling lines. Hereinafter the present invention is illustrated and explained by means of preferred embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In the drawings wherein: Figure 1 is an exploded perspective view illustrating an example of a leader-advancing film cassette; Figure 2 is an explanatory perspective view of a pallet utilized for assembling a spool assembly and a cassette shell of the leader-advancing film cassette shown in Fig.1; Figure 3 is a schematic side view of a pallet conveyor; Figure 4 is a schematic top plan view illustrating the pallet conveyor shown in Fig.3 and an assembling unit; Figure 5 is an enlarged top plan view of the pallet positioned on the pallet conveyer by a pallet positioning unit; and Figure 6 is a sectional view taken along a V-V line of Fig.5. Fig.1 illustrates a photographic film cassette to be assembled by a cassette assembling apparatus shown in Figs.2 to 6 according to a preferred embodiment. A spool assembly 12 is contained in a cassette shell 10 constituted of a pair of shell halves 7 and 8 molded from resin. Ridges 15 are formed on the inside of the shell halves 7 and 8. When photographic film 24 is wound around the spool assembly 12 and contained within a chamber between the shell halves 7 and 8, the ridges 15 are in contact with the outermost turn of the photographic film 24 to prevent the roll of the photographic film 24 from loosening. When the spool assembly 12 is rotated in the direction to unwind the film 24, clockwise in Fig.1, the roll of the photographic film 24 is also rotated clockwise. A separator claw 17 is formed inside of shell half 8. During rotation of the roll of the photographic film 24, a leading end of the photographic film abuts on the separator claw 17, which separates the leading end from the roll of the film 24. Port walls 7a and 8a are formed on the shell halves 7 and 8. When the shell halves 7 and 8 are joined together, the port walls 7a and 8a define a photographic film passage port 19. A shutter 14 is supported by the port walls 7a and 8a. The shutter 14 is rotatably mounted in a cylindrical cavity formed by a pair of semi-cylindrical recesses 23 formed inside the port walls 7a and 8a. Both ends of the shutter 14 are provided with rotary shaft portions 14a to be borne between the port walls 7a and 8a, so that the shutter 14 is rotatable about an axis which is parallel to the spool assembly 12. An end of the shaft portions 14a has a key 16, which extends through a hole formed in the cassette shell 10. When an opener member 18 is fitted on the key 16 and rotates the key 16, the shutter 14 is rotated between positions of blocking and opening a film passage 19 formed between the port walls 7a and 8a. The spool assembly 12 is constituted of a spool core 12a and a pair of flanges 12b fitted on the spool core 12a. The photographic film 24 is wound on the spool core 12a between the flanges 12b. Both ends of the spool assembly 12 extend through faces of the cassette shell 10, and are provided with keys 13. The keys 13 are used for engagement with a drive member for rotating the spool assembly 12 in a known manner. A notch 13a is formed in one of the keys 13, for externally indicating the rotational position of the spool assembly 12. This indication is necessary for inserting the film trailer 24a into a slot 20 formed along the spool core 12a. Inside the slot 20 are arranged two retaining claws 21 and a slip-preventive ridge which is not shown but extends in the direction opposite to, and are disposed between, the retaining claws 21. The right side of the slot 20 is adapted to receive the film trailer 24a. The film trailer 24a has a pair of retaining holes 25 formed therein, which are engageable with the retaining claws 21. The slip-preventing ridge presses the trailer end 24a in the direction opposite to projecting of the retaining claws 21, so that the holes 25 are maintained engaged with the retaining claws 21, even if a force tending to pull the photographic film 24 from the slot 20 should be applied to the trailer 24a. The trailer 24a is further provided with a pair of pick-up holes 26 which are disposed outside the pair of retaining holes 25 in the lateral direction of the film 24. The pick-up holes 26 are used for inserting the film trailer 24a into the slot 20. Figs.2 illustrates a pallet 30 utilized for assembling the above-described photographic film cassette. The pallet 30 has a shell holder 31 for holding the one shell half 8, hereinafter referred to as a lower shell half 8, and a spool holder 32 for holding the spool assembly 12. The pallet 30 also has a pair of positioning pins 33 utilized for positioning the pallet 30 in respective assembling stations, as will be described in detail later. The spool holder 32 has a flange accepting recess 32a and a spool core accepting hole 32b formed therein. After the flange 12b is positioned in the recess 32a, the spool core 12a is inserted in the hole 32b, while force-fitting the spool core 12a through the flange 12b. Thereafter, the other flange 12c is force fitted on the opposite upper end of the spool core 12a, completing the spool assembly 12. The shell holder 31 is secured to the pallet 30, and has a recess 31a formed therein, whose inside surface corresponds to the outward form of the lower shell half 8. After the lower shell half 8 is placed in the shell holder 31, the spool assembly 12 is pulled off the spool holder 32 and is placed in the lower shell half 8. The other or upper shell half 7 is then joined to the lower shell half 8 to complete the cassette shell 10. Finally, the complete cassette shell 10 is removed from the shell holder 31. The above-described spool assembling operations and the assembling operations for the cassette shell 10 are performed by an assembling unit constituted of a series of pick-and-place devices, as will be described below with respect to a preferred embodiment. The pallets 30 are successively conveyed by a pallet conveyer 40, for example, as shown in Figs.3 and 4. The pallet conveyer 40 is constituted of an endless belt 41 circulating in horizontal attitude around pulleys 42 and 43 whose rotary shafts 42a and 43a extend in parallel with each other in a horizontal plane. This construction of pallet conveyer requires a simple drive mechanism. The endless belt 41 has a plurality of pallet spacers 44 mounted on the bearing surface thereof, which are spaced equally in the longitudinal direction of the belt 41 by a distance slightly longer than the length of the pallet 30. The pallet spacers 44 are rectangular ridges projecting from the bearing surface of the belt 41, which confine the pallets 30 at the leading and trailing ends thereof in the conveying direction or the longitudinal direction of the pallets 30 during the conveying. Instead of the rectangular ridges 44, pallet spacers may be formed by pins to be loosely engaged in holes which may be formed in the bottom of pallets. As shown in Fig.4, the shaft 43a of the pulley 43 is coupled to a constant angle rotation unit 45 for controlling constant tact intermittent transport of the endless belt 41. The unit 45 is driven by a cam shaft 46 to cause the pulley 43 to rotate intermittently by a constant angle each. Thereby, the pallets 30 are periodically advanced by a constant amount through the endless belt 41. The cam shaft 46 is driven by a drive motor 48 through a transmission rope 47. A plurality of pick-and-place devices 50 are disposed along an upper path of the endless belt 41 of the pallet conveyer 40 in every second stop positions of the pallets 30, so as to assemble the respective parts of the cassette shell 10, such as the shell halves 7 and 8, the shutter plate 14, the spool core 12a and the flanges 12b and 12c, appropriately in the holders 31 and 32 of the pallets 30. In each pick-and-place device 50, a designated part is picked up by one end of an arm 50a, and simultaneously the same part is mounted on an appropriate place by the other end of the arm 50a. A pick-and-place device 52, which is disposed at last in the pallet conveying direction, removes the complete cassette shell 10 from the shell holder 31 and discharges it from the assembling line, that is, the upper path of the endless belt 41. The pick-and-place device 52 also has an arm 52a which operates in the same way as the arms 50a. The pick-and-place devices 51 and 52 are also driven by the cam shaft 46 through cam members 50b, 50c, 52b and 52c in a conventional manner. parts feeders 51 are disposed besides the pick-and-place devices 50, each for feeding the designated parts one after another to the associated pick-and-place device 50. Of course, no parts feeder is allocated to one of the pick-and-place devices 50 which is adopted to mount the complete spool assembly 12 into the lower shell half 8. Hereinafter, the stop positions of the pallets 30 corresponding to the pick-and-place devices 50 and 52 will be referred to as assembling stations S1 to S8. As shown in Figs.4 and 5, pallet guide fences 53 and 54 are provided on lateral sides of the endless belt 41 along the upper path of the belt 41, so as to limit lateral movement of the pallets 30 on the endless belt 41. The pallet guide fences 53 and 54 are mounted on an upper surface of a guide base 55, on which the endless belt 41 is guided in the horizontal state. Below a lower path of the endless belt 41 and around the pulleys 42 and 43, anti-drop guide rails 56 and 57 are provided for preventing the pallets 30 from dropping off the endless belt 41, as is shown in Figs.3 and 5. The anti-drop guide rails 56 and 57 are mounted to a guide base 58. The anti-drop guide rails 56 is constituted of a pair of fences disposed along lateral sides of the endless belt 41 and having hooks 56a which catch the lateral edges of the pallets 30. Thereby, the pallets 30 may not drop down in spite of their weight. The anti-drop guide rails 57 have the same construction and function as the anti-drop guide rails 56. The lower path of the endless belt 41 functions as a feed back line for feeding empty pallets 30 back to the assembling line. Because the pallets 30 are not secured to the endless belt 41, but are removably held by the pallet spacers 44 and the guide fences 53 and 54, not only maintenance but also positioning of the pallets 30 is easy to execute, because the stop positions of the pallets 30 are each independently adjustable in individual assembling stations. By providing the anti-drop guide rails 56 and 57, the pallets 30 may be conveyed cyclically on the endless belt 41 without the need for decoupling the pallets 30 from the endless belt 41 and then coupling the same to the endless belt 41. Therefore, high speed of transport or short interval of intermission may be achieved with less trouble. As shown in Figs.5 and 6, a positioning unit 60 is disposed in association with each pick-and-place devices 50 and 52. The positioning unit 60 has a lateral positioning plate 61 and a longitudinal positioning plate 62. The lateral positioning plate 61 is mounted to a guide plate 63 to be movable in the lateral direction of the pallet 30. The lateral positioning plate 61 is secured to a bracket 65 having a cam follower 66 secured thereto. The cam follower 66 contacts an eccentric cam 67, and a coiled spring 68 suspended between the bracket 65 and the guide plate 63 urges the cam follower 66 toward the cam 67. Thereby, the lateral positioning plate 61 is urged to remove from the pallet 30. The cam 67 is driven through the cam shaft 46 to rotate at an angle of 180 degrees in each step. The longitudinal positioning plate 62 is mounted to a guide plate to be movable in the lateral direction of the pallet 30. The lateral positioning plate 62 is secured to a bracket 71 having a cam follower 72 secured thereto. The cam follower 72 contacts an eccentric cam 73, and a coiled spring 75 suspended between the bracket 71 and the guide plate urges the cam follower 72 toward the cam 73. Thereby, the longitudinal positioning plate 62 is urged toward the pallet 30. The eccentric cam 73 is also driven through the cam shaft 46 to rotate at an angle of 180 degrees in each step. The longitudinal positioning plate 62 has a pair of symmetrical slopes 76 spaced from each other in the longitudinal direction of the endless belt 41, such that the slopes 76 are brought into tangential contact with the positioning pins 33 of the pallet 30 to push the pins 33 toward each other when the longitudinal positioning plate 62 is moved toward the pallet 30. While the pallets 30 are conveyed on the endless belt 41 by one step, that is, from one stop position to another, the cam shaft 46 causes the eccentric cams 67 and 73 to rotate by one step, that is, by 180 degrees. Each time the pallets 30 are stopped at the respective assembling stations S1 to S8, the eccentric cams 67 and 73 are set in the positions shown in Fig.5, wherein the cam 67 pushes the cam follower 66 to move the bracket 65 against the force of the spring 68 and thus move the lateral positioning plate 61 toward the pallet 30 into a predetermined position, as is shown by solid line in Fig.6. Concurrently, the longitudinal positioning plate 62 is moved toward the pallet 30 under the force of the spring 75, as is shown by solid line in Fig.6. Thereby, the pallet 30 is pushed against the lateral positioning plate 61, to be positioned in the lateral direction. Because the positioning pins 33 are pushed toward each other by the slopes 76 while the longitudinal positioning plate 62 is moved toward the pallet 30, the pins 33 are centered on the symmetrical axis of the slopes 76, so that the pallet 30 is positioned in the longitudinal direction. While the pallets 30 are advanced from one assembling station to another, the eccentric cams 67 and 73 are rotated by two steps, that is, by 360 degrees, so that the positioning plates 61 and 62 make one reciprocation to be retracted from and then moved toward the pallet 30, as is indicated by arrows and phantom lines in Fig.6. The assembling operations of the cassette shell 10 are performed, for example, in the following sequence: The respective pallets 30 are periodically advanced by the pallet conveyer 40 to be seriatim fed to the respective assembling stations S1 to S8, as is shown in Figs.3 and 4. In the first assembling station S1, the pick-and-place device 50 mounts the lower shell half 8 in the shell holder 31 of the pallet 30, as is shown in Fig.2. Next, the shutter 14 is mounted in the semi-cylindrical recess 23 of the lower shell half 8 in the second assembling station S2. In the third assembling station S3, the flange 12b is set in the flange accepting recess 32a of the spool holder 32 of the pallet 30. In the fourth assembling station S4, the spool core 12a is fitted in the spool core accepting hole 32b of the spool holder 32, thereby force-fitting the flange 12b on one end of the spool core 12a. In the fifth assembling station S5, the flange 12c is fitted on the other end of the spool core 12a which is still fitted in the spool core accepting hole 32b. In the sixth assembling station S6, the complete spool assembly 12 is pulled off the spool holder 32 and mounted in the lower shell half 8 held in the shell holder 31. In the seventh assembling station S7, the pick-and-place device 50 joins the upper shell half 7 to the lower shell half 8 in the shell holder 31, to complete the cassette shell 10. In the last station S8, the pick-and-place unit 52 removes the cassette shell 10 from the shell holder 31 to transfer the shell 10 to another line. The pallet conveyer 40 feeds the empty pallet 30 back to the first assembling station S1. In alternative, it is possible to first perform assembling of the spool assembly 12 in the side of the spool holder 32, and thereafter start assembling in the side of the shell holder 31. The flanges may be secured to the spool core through hooking, caulking, cementing or the like. It is, of course, possible to provide more than eight stations so as to assemble a cassette shell having a larger number of parts than the cassette shell shown in Fig.1, such as disclosed in U.S.P. No. 5,049,912. As described so far, according to the embodiment, each pallet has a secondary work holder, such as a spool holder, besides a primary work holder, such as a shell holder, so that parts of a secondary assembly, such as a spool assembly, are sequentially assembled in the side of the secondary work holder, and parts of a primary assembly, such as a cassette shell, including the secondary assembly as one part, are sequentially assembled in the side of the primary work holder, while the pallet is conveyed along a single assembling line. Therefore, it is unnecessary to provide a secondary assembling line for assembling the secondary assembly separately from a primary assembling line for the primary assembly. Because of the single assembling line, it is unnecessary to provide interconnecting devices such as a synchronizing device and a buffer conveyer, which would otherwise be necessary for connecting the primary and secondary assembling lines. Therefore, the assembling apparatus of the present invention may be simple in construction and contributes to increasing assembling speed and efficiency. The assembling apparatus of the embodiment may also be inexpensive as it requires merely a drive motor and a constant angle rotation unit for transporting pallets intermittently at a constant tact or pitch. It also requires merely the same kind of pallets. Moreover, occurrence of trouble may be reduced because the occasions of handing of works are reduced.

Claims: An automatic assembling method for assembling a photographic film cassette using a pallet (30) and a pallet conveyer (40) for cyclically conveying a plurality of such pallets (30) through a series of predetermined stations (S1-S7), comprising the steps of: stopping said pallet (30) at each of said predetermined stations (S1-S7); sequentially feeding parts of said photographic film cassette to a work holder (31, 32) provided on said pallet (30) at each of said predetermined stations (S1-S7); assembling said parts on said work holder (31,32) provided on said pallet (30) at at least some (S2, S4-S7) of said predetermined stations (S1-S7); characterized in that said work holder comprises a primary work holder (31) and a secondary work holder (32); said feeding step comprises sequentially feeding parts of a secondary assembly (12) of said photographic film cassette to said secondary work holder (32), and sequentially feeding said secondary assembly (12) and other parts (7, 8, 14) of a primary assembly of said photographic film cassette to said primary work holder (31); and said assembling step comprises assembling said parts of said secondary assembly (12) into said secondary assembly (12) at said secondary work holder (32) and assembling said secondary assembly (12) and said other parts (7, 8, 14) into said primary assembly (10) of said photographic film cassette at said primary work holder (31). An automatic assembling method for assembling a photographic film cassette according to claim 1, wherein said secondary assembly (12) of said photographic film cassette is transferred from said secondary work holder (32) to said primary work holder (31) within one (56) of said predetermined stations. An automatic assembling method for assembling a photographic film cassette comprising a cassette shell having a pair of shell halves and a spool assembly according to one of the claims 1 or 2, wherein said secondary work holder is a spool assembling portion (32) and said primary work holder is a shell assembling portion (31) provided in the same positions on each of said pallets (30), and said primary assembly is a cassette shell (10) of a photographic film cassette which comprises a pair of shell halves (7, 8), said secondary assembly is a spool assembly (12), wherein parts of said spool assembly (12) are fed to said spool assembling portion (32) of each of said pallets (30) in a predetermined sequence of assembling, one part at each of a plurality (53-55) of said predetermined stations (S1-S7), to assemble said parts into said spool assembly (12) at said spool assembling portion; and one shell half (8), said spool assembly (12) and other shell half (7) in this order are fed to said shell assembling portion (31) of each of said pallets (30), to assemble these parts into said cassette shell (10). An automatic assembling apparatus for assembling a photographic film cassette, said apparatus comprises: a pallet (30) and a pallet conveyer (40) for cyclically and intermittently conveying a plurality of such pallets (30) through a series of predetermined stations (S1-S7), wherein said pallet (30) is stopped at each of said predetermined stations (S1-S7); a work holder (31,32) provided on said pallet (30); feeding and assembling devices (50,51) for sequentially feeding parts of said photographic film cassette to said work holder (31, 32) at said predetermined stations (S1-S7) and for assembling said parts on said work holder (31,32) at least some (S2, S4-S7) of said predetermined stations (S1-S7); characterized in that said work holder comprises a primary work holder (31) and a secondary work holder (32); said feeding and assembling devices (50, 51) are arranged to sequentially feed parts of a secondary assembly (12) of said photographic film cassette to said secondary work holder (32), and to sequentially feed said secondary assembly (12) and other parts (7, 8, 14) of a primary assembly of said photographic film cassette to said primary work holder (31); and said feeding and assembling devices (50,51) are arranged to assemble said parts of said secondary assembly (12) into said secondary assembly (12) at said secondary work holder (32) and to assemble said secondary assembly (12) and said other parts (7, 8, 14) into said primary assembly (10) of said photographic film cassette at said primary work holder (31). An automatic assembling apparatus for assembling a photographic film cassette according to claim 4, further comprising at least two rotary shafts (42a, 43a) extending in parallel with each other in a horizontal plane; an endless belt (41) mounted rotatable around said rotary shafts (42a, 43a); holding members (44, 53, 54, 56, 57) for removably holding said pallets (30) on said endless belt (41) in alignment with a longitudinal direction of said endless belt (41); a driving device (45-48) for driving said endless belt (41) through said rotary shafts (42a, 43a) to convey said pallets (30) cyclically and intermittently at regular intervals by a constant pitch. An automatic assembling apparatus for assembling a photographic film cassette according to claim 5, wherein said holding members include a plurality of projection members (44) disposed on the pallet holding side of said endless belt (41) to be loosely engaged with said pallets (30), guide fences (53, 54) disposed along said endless belt (41) on lateral sides of said pallets (30), and anti-drop guide rails (56, 57) disposed below a lower path of said endless belt (41) and around both comers between said upper and lower paths of said endless belt (41). An automatic assembling apparatus for assembling a photographic film cassette according to at least one of the claims 5 or 6, wherein said at least two rotary shafts are two shafts (42a, 43a) disposed in comers of said endless belt (41), and one of said rotary shafts (43a) is coupled to said driving device (45-48). An automatic assembling apparatus for assembling a photographic film cassette according to at least one of the claims 5 to 7, wherein said feeding and assembling devices (50, 51) are driven by said driving device (45-48). An automatic assembling apparatus for assembling a photographic film cassette according to at least one of the claims 4 to 8, wherein said feeding and assembling devices (50, 51) are disposed in said predetermined stations (S1-S7) which are arranged along an upper path of said endless belt (41) in a predetermined sequence of assembling. An automatic assembling apparatus for assembling a photographic film cassette according to at least one of the claims 4 to 9, further comprising a positioning device (60) in association with each of said feeding and assembling devices (50, 51), for positioning one of said pallets (30) relative to each of said feeding and assembling devices (50, 51), wherein said positioning device (60) comprises first and second positioning plates (61, 62) disposed on lateral sides of said pallets (30) to be movable in a transverse direction of said endless belt (41) such that said first positioning plate (61) contact one lateral side of said one pallet (30) at a predetermined position, while said second positioning plate (62) pushes said one pallet (30) against said first positioning plate (61), thereby to position said one pallet (30) in the transverse direction, and said second positioning plate (62) has a pair of symmetrical slopes (76) which are spaced from each other in the longitudinal direction of said endless belt (41), said second positioning plate (62) pushing said one pallet (30) at said slopes (76), thereby to position said one pallet (30) in the longitudinal direction. An automatic assembling apparatus for assembling a photographic film cassette according to claim 10, wherein said slopes (76) are arranged to be brought into tangential contact with a pair of pins (33) which are mounted on each of said pallets (30) and aligned in the longitudinal direction. An automatic assembling apparatus for assembling a photographic film cassette according to at least one of the claims 4 to 11, wherein said primary assembly is a cassette shell (10) of a photographic film cassette which comprises a pair of shell halves (7, 8) and said secondary assembly is a spool assembly (12) mounted between said shell halves (7, 8), said spool assembly (12) comprising a spool core (12a) and a pair of flanges (12b, 12c) secured to said spool core (12a).

Inventors: ESAKI TOSHIRO, ESAKI, TOSHIRO, ESAKI, TOSHIRO, C/O FUJI PHOTO FILM CO., LTD.
Applicants: FUJI PHOTO FILM CO LTD, FUJI PHOTO FILM CO., LTD.
Application year: 1994
Main classification: G03B17
IPC codes: G03C3, G03C1, G03B17